Skipped class on Monday for a post-tournament holiday. It look like we’re going to be doing no-gi on Tuesdays and Thursdays for a while. I wonder if the popularity of the no-gi absolute (or semi-absolute, there was a “heavyweight division” and a “lightweight division”) had something to do with it.
I liked that format a lot. Rather than have 50 million no-gi categories and skill levels, let’s save the nuance for the gi competition and just throw all those no-gi guys on the mat together. Two divisions should be plenty.
I like what I’ve been doing so far this week. Definitely a renewed motivation after my disappointing 1-1 last Saturday at Copa 7. Tuesday I rolled about four times no gi and tried to focus on standing against the guard, which I finally was able to get myself to do consistently. I think I might have even passed Shaka’s guard once during a drill. Came close to passing Tommy’s but no dice. Still, I felt good, didn’t feel “lost” … It’s so much easier when you’ve got a plan …
By the way, Rodrigo taught the no gi class. He had us work the dueling underhook drill, then showed us a way to grapple for the underhook when the guy has got both underhooks on you. You step back and pivot, forcing your shoulder into the guy’s head and turning your torso almost perpendicular to his body. From there you should have enough space to swim your arm under and get the underhook on the one side.
He also showed us an ankle pick from that same position. When you pivot and twist, drop to the inside knee and grab the guy’s forward ankle. I’m not sure if it is two moves or one. I found it easier to do the pivot and drop at pretty much the same time.
Last he showed us a sweep from the closed guard. It is one that he’s showed us before. It’s a version of Rodrigo’s cradle where you overhook and wrap one arm, then pivot your hips in that direction to underhook the leg on the other side. Rodrigo pointed out that you almost want to put your head on the knee of the leg you are underhooking. You then rock back to get his weight on you and, scissoring your legs, roll him over. You should wind up in mount position at the end. Make sure you keep that arm wrapped all the way through the sweep so that he doesn’t base out at the last minute.
One basic mechanical point about scissoring your legs: all you really need to do is to kick your bottom leg out and then bring it back as you start to roll. Like so much jiu jitsu, what seems almost like magic can really be broken down into basic parts. Let it look like magic to the rest of the world. To the wizard it’s just more work.
Last night, Wednesday, was back to the gi. Mamazinho showed us some sweeps for when the guy stands in your guard. They involve grabbing a sleeve and then underhooking the leg on that same side at the ankle. You then twist your body so that your butt is on the inside of his knee. Pull up on the hook, pull on the sleeve and push into him with your hip.
Trying this technique with Tommy, it seems that if you don’t get the leg to turn, you’ve got a sort of kneebar setup or something. I think the trick is to put the pressure on the inside of the knee so you end up turning the leg out, almost sideways. That makes the leg easier to bend and the guy easier to sweep. Mamazinho showed us a variation for when you can’t get the sleeve. Instead, reach behind your head with that hand and push against the mat as if you were bridging up. Pull with the hook on the ankle and you should get the same sweep.
Did some guard/guard pass work with Jeff the White. I was a little underwhelmed with my performance. I think Jeff passed my guard three times and I passed his once. A strong guy, I’ll tell you that. I tried some of the other sweeps Mamazinho showed us for when a guy stands in your guard, but Jeff sprawled out and kept his weight on me. My big mistake was not going aggressively to spider guard. I’d get my knees up, but then not make the next key move to put a foot in the bicep. I can’t really control him with just my knees; I need to get that foot in the bicep.
Rolled many, many times last night: Andy from the East Coast, Jeff the White, Angela, Stefan, Jeff from Demon and Rodrigo. Not bad in general, good standing attacks on the guard so I’m happy with that. I played too much of the smash game with Jeff from Demon, and I don’t like that. I’ve got to remember to play more from the bottom with smaller guys—even if they are just one division smaller. Funny that I remember Jeff from Demon being harder to handle back in March, when Arnell was around. Don’t tell me that I’ve gotten THAT much better since …
Rodrigo caught me in what seemed to be an intricate gi choke. I felt wrapped up like the mummy before he got the tap. I did an okay job of moving my body to take the pressure off, but he stepped over my head to get more leverage and that pretty much did it. He also caught me in the fastest keylock known to man. I joked afterward that it wasn’t so much a keylock. In fact, it didn’t feel like he needed a key or a lock. He just pushed the door open.
Good stuff. Looking forward to tonight’s training. I want to work on more standing to attack the guard, and to try and integrate the sweeps we’ve been learning. Also, try and play more from the bottom, especially against smaller guys (Bruce, Jeff from Demon, etc.) I still haven’t put my top game together. What I need to do is try it once with everybody—especially the Jacare (north/south kimura with armbar option), which I’d like to make my signature arm/shoulder attack because it works well with and without the gi. But since we’re about six weeks away from the next tournament, I should spend this early time working on my bottom game and my standing attack/pass of the guard.
